First I lightly sketch the subject onto a canvas using a pencil, after that I flung paint all over the original sketch from several large brushes and created a random splattering of various colors. When the splatters and drips dried I applied acrylic paint as a transparent wash to fill in large areas with pale […]

Sunflower 36″x48″ acrylic on canvas original pointillism painting. The finished painting Sunflower. Next, the completed work will be photographed and digitized for my records, once the photography is complete I will apply several coats of Gloss Acrylic Gel to the entire surface. The gel will intensify color and give a nice tough finish to the […]

I’ve made some changes to the composition to keep your eye traveling around inside the painting. In the upside down photo posted a few days ago the strong diagonal lines and highlights on the leaves caused the viewers eye to be drawn off the picture plane in the upper left corner. By darkening the leaves […]

I am nearing the finish of the Sunflower original painting and it is time to add details, a part of painting that I enjoy very much! The photo above shows highlights and shadows on the seeds in the center of the sunflower. Next I will complete the detail on the yellow petals, and finally the […]

At this point in the progress of the Sunflower original painting I evaluate the composition while the canvas is upside down. Compositional flaws will be quite obvious from this perspective. The upside down view shows me that the upper left portion of this painting is too light, and the diagonal lines of the leaves draw […]

Close-up of the center of the Sunflower original painting viewed upside down. I am developing the shadows between the seeds in the center of the flower. It is easier to reach this area of the painting by placing it upside down on the easel. More tomorrow, Gail Niebrugge, Art of Alaska

More visitors to the studio, this time my cousin and his wife Bob and Netia Manning from Mountain Home Idaho. Cousin Bob and I are standing next to the partially finished sunflower painting. The center seed area requires a lot more work, but the rest of the painting needs only highlights, darks and details. I’ll […]

This is a fairly large canvas, 36″x48,” with the easel positioned as low as it can go. Tall canvases require a lot of adjusting of the easel up and down in order for me to paint comfortably. I work hard to avoid bending over or raising my arm for long periods of time. The problem […]

At this stage I concentrated on placing mid-value dots of acrylic paint on the top leaves and begin to develop the petals along the upper portion of the flower in pointillism. More tomorrow, Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

First I lightly sketch the subject onto a canvas using a pencil, after that I flung paint all over the original sketch from several large brushes and created a random splattering of various colors. When the splatters and drips dried I applied acrylic paint as a transparent wash to fill in large areas with pale […]

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Niebrugge Studio

Meet Gail Niebrugge

Gail Niebrugge (Knee-brew-ghe) born and raised in California has pursued art since childhood, winning a poster contest on the Johnny Jet television show at the age of twelve. Gail began her career as an illustrator for the US Navy and Marines in San Diego, and later established the Instructional Media Center for the Grossmont High School District in La Mesa, California. The Niebrugge family fell in love with Alaska while on vacation in 1976 and never returned home, instead they established a residence and studio in the remote interior settlement of Copper Center where the artist painted the … [Read More...]

Wikipedia defines pointillism as; "a style of painting in which small distinct points of primary colors create the impression of a wide selection of secondary and intermediate colors." It goes on to say that the mind and the eye mix the color spots into a full range of tones and that it is closely related to Divisionism. Divisionism was practiced by Georges Seurat during the Neo-Impressionism period. He broke his color into basic elements and painted very small and regular dots. His dots are carefully placed as to not touch each other, so the white under painted canvas shows around all of the dots.
I call my painting technique pointillism, but technically it is incorrect according to Wikipedia. The difference between my technique and true pointillism is that I use all … [Read More...]